The Mumbai Pune Expressway is India’s first ever six lane expressway spanning over a vast distance of 94.5 kms. Being fully operationalized in 2002, the expressway handles about 43,000 vehicle units and is designed to handle up to 10,00,000 PCU’s daily. This six lane project cost Rs 16.3 billion to construct under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).
Stats-asm!
The expressway has reduced the travel time from Mankhurd to Pune in about 2 Hrs. It has also supplemented NH 4 which had become extremely congested and accident prone.
You might have heard of the latest ‘Avengers’ movie sequel hitting big numbers in theaters. One of the reasons why we all love these movies is because of their action packed destruction of roads and infrastructure. Well, though we unfortunately see many roads around getting deteriorated for no apparent superhero action, but 15 years, and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway has survived all the natural and human abuses well!
The Ghat section
Well, although some frequent repairs are getting conducted on the expressway recently, a quick survey by RoadBounce shows no major signs of failures and risks to the road surface! Geographically plotted road condition is indicative of rough road sections near toll-plazas, bridge connectors and on some service lanes.
Traffic tips
Here are some tips which may help if you are a regular commuter:
Traffic density – Hill(ghat) section – BOM to PNQ
Traffic density – Hill(ghat) section – PNQ to BOM
The road bearing excessive congestion during day and night times has been said to face minimal traffic from 11AM to 4PM as reported by RoadBounce, a technology made to identify road conditions and traffic safety indicators. This would be a right time slot to cross the hilly section (‘Ghat’ area) if you it meets your schedule.
Also, the maintenance work is best performed during these hours since it would have minimum possible impact on regular traffic
In line with these findings, Maharashtra traffic police has introduced the concept of ‘Golden hours’ under which multi axle vehicles are barred from plying for a few hours on specific days.
A quick stat of the road condition against international standards yields a very positive outlook. Accelerating the connection of cities like Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur, Belgaum, Hubli and Bangalore with Mumbai, the expressway has introduced new levels of speed and safety in automobile transportation to Indian roads and its serving citizens, and its still serving very well even after so many years and bad monsoons.
Kudos to the maintenance team!
Leave a Reply